


Turning the Wrong Way 'Round

by galacticsugar



Series: tumblr prompts - ways to say i love you [5]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amusement Park, Alternate Universe - High School, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Swearing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29007324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticsugar/pseuds/galacticsugar
Summary: Luke nudges Calum and points out the girl, who is dancing impatiently in front of the funnel cake stand, her sunflower-dotted skirt flaring with every excited spin. The adults accompanying her are pleading with her to come along so they can line up for rides, assuring her there will be plenty of time for funnel cake later, but she’s standing her ground.Calum laughs at the spectacle. “I think that girl’s got the right idea, though,” he whispers to Luke as they pass. “She could die on the first rollercoaster she rides and never have funnel cake again.”***for the tumblr prompts "can i hold your hand" and "it looks good on you"
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood
Series: tumblr prompts - ways to say i love you [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138103
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	Turning the Wrong Way 'Round

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kingscrossinseptember](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingscrossinseptember/gifts).



> for the tumblr prompts "can i hold your hand" and "it looks good on you" from [meg](https://igarbagecannoteven.tumblr.com/). she let me pick the pairing (a dangerous game) and so obviously i picked cake because cake has infiltrated my brain and, by all accounts, will never leave from here on out. in my mind this is high school cake.

The sweet smell of sugary, fried dough hits Luke’s nose as soon as he and Calum pass the entry gates for the theme park, and the little girl in line in front of them shrieks “FUNNEL CAKE!” at the top of her lungs as she sprints toward the wheeled kiosk nearby.

Luke nudges Calum and points out the girl, who is dancing impatiently in front of the funnel cake stand, her sunflower-dotted skirt flaring with every excited spin. The adults accompanying her are pleading with her to come along so they can line up for rides, assuring her there will be plenty of time for funnel cake later, but she’s standing her ground.

Calum laughs at the spectacle. “I think that girl’s got the right idea, though,” he whispers to Luke as they pass. “She could die on the first rollercoaster she rides and never have funnel cake again.”

“What the fuck, Calum?” Luke snickers at him, bemused by Calum’s casual turn for the macabre. He’s setting a quick pace, leading Calum toward the back of the theme park where the rollercoasters are situated. If they can get there quickly, they can avoid long lines.

“I’m just saying.” Calum shakes his head seriously, eyes wide, and Luke senses there might be more to this unusual outburst than he initially realized, but there’s no time to dwell on it. They’ve got places to be and rollercoasters to ride.

Luke takes Calum’s hand so he doesn’t lose him and expertly zigs and zags around the families and crowds of teenagers ambling through the park, only stopping to catch his breath when they reach the line for The Tornado. 

“Only a twenty minute wait, not bad!” He lifts a hand to give Calum a celebratory high five, but Calum’s not looking at him, instead focused on watching the cars on The Tornado slowly climbing to the top of a steep dropoff before suddenly tipping over the edge and plummeting toward the ground.

“Crazy, huh?” Luke says with a laugh, already amped up on adrenaline just hearing the screams from the other riders. He tugs Calum to the back of the line.

“You’ve ridden this before, right?” Calum asks quietly. It’s weird for Calum to be this quiet around Luke, but maybe he’s just a little overwhelmed by the crowd at the park. It is one hundred percent more screaming children than Calum encounters on a normal day, after all.

“Yeah, loads of times.” Luke hops up to sit on the top bar of the stanchion holding line and grins at Calum. “It’s so fun! You’re going to love it.”

Calum doesn’t seem convinced. “I don’t know. Rollercoasters aren’t really my thing,” he says, smiling tightly back at Luke.

Luke drops off the stanchion, sneakers hitting the cement with a heavy thud. “What do you mean? How have you been so excited about this trip to ride rollercoasters if you don’t actually like rollercoasters?” 

Calum shrugs and ducks his head, blushing a little. It’s fucking adorable and if they weren’t currently surrounded by 10-year-olds, Luke would definitely grab Calum’s face and kiss him silly. Alas, he can hear a kid behind him in line loudly chanting “boo-bies, boo-bies, boo-bies!” so he’s fairly confident kissing his boyfriend right now would draw a rather undesirable reaction from the peanut gallery.

But Calum’s adorableness aside, Luke’s worried now. Is he so oblivious he somehow managed to plan a date that Calum is going to hate? When he pitched the idea of the theme park a few weeks ago, Calum seemed good with it. Not overly enthusiastic or anything, but up for it. In fact, Luke’s pretty sure his exact words were, “Yeah, I’d be up for that.”

Which, in retrospect...maybe not a ringing endorsement. Shit.

Luke grabs Calum’s arm insistently. “Calum. Tell me.”

“This is my fucking nightmare,” Calum admits easily, face strangely placid in contrast to his words. He has apparently accepted his fate. Which is actually kind of romantic, except that Luke can’t appreciate it because he currently feels like the world’s biggest asshole. He can’t believe he didn’t notice this sooner.

“We don’t have to stay,” Luke says, sliding his hand down Calum’s arm to squeeze his hand. “Or we can go on some calmer rides instead, or just people-watch and stuff ourselves with junk food.” He’s basically pleading at this point, desperate to find a way to fix this.

Calum smiles up at him, his real smile, and it calms Luke’s frayed nerves just slightly. “I want to stay. You’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

There’s an uptempo pop song playing loudly over the speakers above them and the distant beeps and chimes of arcade games ringing in the background. It had seemed festive five minutes ago, but now it feels like too much, like Luke needs to scream for Calum to hear him. Luke bites his lip, shaking his head frantically. “Because I thought you were excited about it too. It’s not any fun if you’re miserable. We can do something else!”

“It’s okay, Luke. I _am_ excited to be here. I’m just also terrified.” Calum lifts onto his toes and tries to placate Luke by kissing him lightly on the nose. It doesn’t go unnoticed by the boob-obsessed kid behind them, who loudly exclaims “Ugh, get a room!” 

“Watch it, or I’ll put my tongue in his mouth,” Calum warns the kid. 

Luke laughs, then doubles over and laughs harder when he looks over his shoulder to see the expression of pure horror on the kid’s slushie-stained face. “Careful, Cal. Don’t want you to get kicked out for bullying kids half your age.”

“Maybe that’s been my plan all along,” Calum says, grabbing Luke by the belt loop of his jeans to tow him up to the back of the line, which had somehow jumped ahead ten feet while Calum was busy kissing him and threatening small children. “If I get kicked out I don’t have to risk death on a roller coaster.” He says it jokingly, but now Luke knows better.

“I told you we can leave. I don’t mind. I just want to spend time with you.” 

Calum gives the kid behind them a stern look before wrapping an arm around Luke’s waist. “I’ll be fine, Luke. Who knows, I might even like it.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I highly doubt The Tornado is going to somehow be the one roller coaster that you actually like.” The line shuffles forward again, and now they’re close enough to the loading area that Luke can see the windblown, frazzled faces of riders climbing out of a set of cars that just pulled in to unload. New riders quickly slide into the cars behind them with an almost eerie precision.

“I don’t know if I like _any_ rollercoasters,” Calum says, eyes widening while he takes in the excited whoops from the new set of riders as the cars take off down the track. “This will be the first one I’ve actually ridden.”

He says it so nonchalantly Luke’s not sure he heard right. “Seriously?”

There’s mischief in Calum’s eyes when he nods back at Luke. “Seriously. I’ve always been too afraid to ride them. You're a good incentive, though.”

“You’re riding your first rollercoaster for me?” Luke puts his hand to his heart, genuinely touched. The kid behind them makes an aggressively loud gagging sound and Calum laughs at Luke before leveling the kid with a threatening glare. 

“I do have one condition, though,” Calum says, taking a slow, deep breath, clearly trying to calm his nerves as they near the front of the line. “Can I hold your hand?”

“Of course you can.” Luke grins and leads them to the loading area. A set of sparkly red roller coaster cars come to a sudden stop in front of them, and the disoriented riders pile out quickly.

They only have a few seconds to situate themselves inside the car, but Luke is careful to make sure the bars across Calum’s chest are tight and secure, then he holds his open hand out for Calum. Calum takes it gratefully. 

“Keep your head back,” Luke says, demonstrating by leaning back into his headrest. Calum has just enough time to copy Luke’s movement, then suddenly the cars take off at breakneck speed. 

Calum squeezes Luke’s hand painfully hard through the first zip downhill, but his grip loosens as they start slowly climbing for the big drop. Luke looks over at him to check in, and he’s relieved to see a nervous smile on Calum’s face. It’s hard to say if he’s actually enjoying himself, but he at least doesn’t seem to be hating it.

The clanking of the chains on the coaster slows to a stop at the top of the hill, and then they’re freefalling. Calum’s scream pierces Luke’s ears, and he’s squeezing Luke’s hand so hard Luke can barely feel it anymore. But then they’re looping upside-down, and Calum’s scream dissolves into bright, disbelieving laughter. Luke thinks he catches Calum gleefully yelling, “What the fuck!” as they drop into another loop-de-loop.

The coaster slams to a stop at the loading zone, and Luke turns to Calum to assess the situation. He’s breathing heavily and his cheeks are pink and his hair is a _mess_ , but he’s still laughing. It may be the cutest thing Luke has ever seen, and Luke’s filled with relief that he didn’t just permanently traumatize his boyfriend for the sake of a ride on a mediocre rollercoaster. 

Calum’s laughter continues as they push their safety bars up and climb out of the car. Luke keeps a hold on Calum’s hand and leads him toward the exit. “That was fucking awesome, man!” Calum yells, tugging Luke’s hand excitedly. “I’m so glad I care more about impressing you than my own personal safety or I never would have done that!”

Luke snorts. “If you think that was awesome, wait till you try an actually good rollercoaster.”

“Lead the way to one, then!” Calum says. “Holy shit.” He stops suddenly, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirrored wall of the exit hallway. He pokes at his disheveled hair disdainfully. “I look ridiculous.”

“I like it,” Luke says, gently pulling Calum’s hand away from his head. “It looks good on you.”

“Will you still be saying that after we ride a few more rollercoasters?”

Luke shrugs happily as he drags Calum toward the next ride. “Only one way to find out!”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr [@staticsounds](https://staticsounds.tumblr.com/); come say hi!


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